Our luxury, Champagned beer, Van Kannor 7.7% seems to have stolen hearts, gaining universal approval among guests at a press and VIP tasting session at the Brewery.  We’re hoping word of the beer’s fine reputation will soon spread.  The Mayor of Brentwood, Cllr Mark Reed, joined us for the tasting event.

In 2014 Brentwood Brewery’s MD Roland Kannor asked Sophie de Ronde, head brewer at the time, to create the finest beer possible to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild, a grandson. 

“I’m really proud of this very special beer.  Sophie did marvellously well on this one.

 “It is indeed a triumph, exactly hitting the target I set Sophie to create a sophisticated, luxury, fine beer.  It has to be right up there as one of the proudest achievements of the brewery,” said Roland.

Whilst it was a simple brief, it was a very challenging one to deliver.  So where do you start on a project like this to create the finest of beers?

 “I get my inspiration from trying other distinguished beers of similar styles. There are so few beers out there of the same kind of distinction.

 “I really wanted to produce a ‘Champagned’ beer, so I had to do some research.  It’s not always easy to get hold of the rare beers on the market but I managed to find some of them,” said Sophie.   

Produced using traditional Champagning methods, Van Kannor is triple fermented with beer, wine and Champagne yeast, then hand-riddled (shaken to separate sediment) and turned.  Only a limited run of 1000 bottles was brewed.  Combining gentle fruitiness with sweet malt aromas it is a luxurious, sophisticated beer which is best enjoyed chilled from Champagne-style glasses.

Sophie added:  “The beer is a blend of inspired styles and has a truly unique characteristic.  I love the final product.  It’s turned out very well, probably better than I had imagined.”

Through the brewery’s collaboration with Beer for That .com, a list of Brentwood beer and food match combinations that complement flavours, has been compiled.  As you might expect, Van Kannor fits particularly well with luxury foods like smoked salmon, prawns and crab as well as cheeses, fruit salad and strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake.

Roland added:  “I’m not sure how we’re going to top Van Kannor but we’ll have to find a way.  We need to produce another special beer sometime soon, as we have to celebrate the arrival of our first granddaughter, born just a few weeks ago.”

Van Kannor 7.7% ABV is available to purchase from the Brewery Shop or online at www.brentwoodbrewing.co.uk.  It costs £29.99 per 750ml bottle.

Although unable to join us for the press and VIP tasting due to commitments in parliament, soon-to-be-Sir Eric Pickles MP popped into the brewery to find out about Brentwood Brewing Company’s ventures into the export market and to sample some special Van Kannor, Champagned beer.